Musings with Father Daniele

31/05/2026

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/explaining-the-trinity

In Catholic theology, we understand the persons of the Blessed Trinity subsisting within the inner life of God to be truly distinct relationally, but not as a matter of essence, or nature.

29/05/2026

On May 29,2021-5 years ago- I lived the saddest day of my life. Please pray for the repose of her soul. RIP mamma😢🙏🏼 The Day the Music Died

24/05/2026

•HAPPY PENTECOST

Fireworks!!!!!!
• Most of us thrill at the thought of a grand display of fireworks……what would the Fourth of July be without such a grand extravaganza?
• We like spectacular fireworks……they are exciting….impressive…..exhilarating…..we gaze up at the skies as they light up with vibrant colors……we marvel at the explosions that we feel in the very core of our being….
• The First Pentecost was such an event…..there were some spectacular fireworks.
o Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles recounts that the apostles and other Christians were gathered "in one place together".
o Traditionally, it is believed to be the Cenacle…..the same large upper room where Jesus and the Apostles had eaten the Last Supper……they had locked themselves away in fear…..
o Why in fear?
o The darkness of the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus was behind them…..He had been raised and the glory of the Resurrection changed their whole life-view…..
o And Jesus, after some forty days with them in His resurrected Body had ascended into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father…..the fulfillment of His life and ministry…..
o But they feel alone…..they feel vulnerable……they are on their own without their Lord, their Savior, their Master in their midst…..
o They would have been content, I am sure, to have clung to the Risen Lord and not let Him return to His glory……
o So they gather in fear….lacking real courage…..longing for “the good old days” when Jesus was with them…..clinging to memories……in a way, living in the past…..even if it was the past of the new life of the Resurrection…..
o So they were all in one place, and then a thunderous noise like a strong wind, like a tornado, comes from the sky.
o And then flames appear…….. Flames of fire just appeared out of nowhere, spontaneously, hovering in the air……..and these flames divided up and started floating through the air until they came to rest on each of the people gathered……..But the fireworks do not stop there.
o All of a sudden these fearful men and women begin speaking in languages that they do not know…..a crowd had gathered by now, with visitors from all over the world who are in Jerusalem for the festival……and each one hears the fearful, once hidden-away disciples explaining the gospel in their own language.
o It is a dramatic, spectacular display…..the fireworks of the first Pentecost…..the gifts of the Holy Spirit being showered on these fearful men and women…..calling them to let go of the fear…..let go of the past……to live in the present moment and let the Holy Spirit allow them to live the present moment in the new life of Christ!!!!
• So why do we not get to prophesy and speak in tongues as the apostles did….where are the fireworks of the first Pentecost in our lives…in our parishes…...then why do we not act like people who have God within us…….people who are alive with the Spirit…..people who live without fear and anxiety……people on fire with the power of the resurrected Christ?????


• After the resurrection….after receiving and experiencing the new life of the risen Lord…the disciples, while living this new life, continued to cling to the old….they accepted the resurrection but desired in bring back things as they were…..
• But when the disciples gather in prayer….when they entrust themselves to the Lord….when they let go….the Holy Spirit is poured down upon them!
• It is the same for us…..when we receive new life…..refuse to cling to what was….then we receive the graces necessary to live the new life we are already living….but in a dynamic and wondrous way!!!
o Today, we celebrate the completion of the Paschal Mystery
o For us, as followers of Christ, living the Paschal Mystery is the secret to a happy and tranquil life….our happiness depends on properly undergoing it!
o Well, like anything planted so deep, the Spirit's presence must be given a lot of time to make its way into our words, our actions, our deeds.
o Whenever we find patches of charity or joy in ourselves, or patience and kindness, or the ability to endure hardships and injuries; when we are tempted toward mildness and modesty, then we can be sure that the Holy Spirit is at work within us.
o Look into your life….what “new life” has the Lord bestowed on you…..but what do you still need to let go of…..you have received the gift of the Holy Spirit in Baptism…..the gifts of that same Holy Spirit were given to you fully in the Sacrament of Confirmation….but so often they were “rites of passage”….we went through the preparation for the sacrament….we received it with reverence…..but did we truly allow that Spirit….did we welcome that Spirit….to make us new?
o The gifts of the Holy Spirit are quietly at work within us…….or many times lying dormant…..like a fire waiting to be stoked……and when we open our minds, when we truly ask the Lord to lead and guide us…..when we take the step forward and leave behind the old to delve in the new…….there will be fireworks in our lives…. in our parish….in the world!!!

23/05/2026

The fifth anniversary of my mother’s death is 29 May… Because of scheduling issues we will celebrate the anniversary mass on six June

17/05/2026

FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD-

• Years ago, a Catholic missionary was preaching in the open square of a village in North India…….the crowds had gathered around with interest to hear his words….as he finished, a Muslim gentleman approached him and said: "You must admit we have one thing you have not, and it is better than anything you have."….the missionary smiled and said, "I should be pleased to hear what it is."The Muslim went on, "You know, that when we go to Mecca—our most holy shrine-- we find at least a coffin…..the tomb of Mohammad…but when you Christians go to Jerusalem….your Mecca…you find nothing but an empty grave. "The Missionary replied, "Ah ha! But that's just it….and it makes all the difference….. Mohammad….the founder of Islam is dead…..and he is in his coffin…..but our Leader has risen from the dead and returned to heaven."

• As Christians, we do not just believe in a philosophy or a theology….or a way of thinking……as Christians, we believe in a person, a Savior, a God who is alive and who has brought our own human nature into heaven, so that we can have a hope….hope that is not just wishful thinking….but a dream guaranteed to come true….we do not have to wish upon a star…..we pray to the One who made the stars.

o Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lord’s glorious Ascension into Heaven…..the fact that 40 days after His glorious Resurrection from the dead…..He ascended back into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father in glory……the fulfillment of His divine mission on this earth……
o If you have ever had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land…..there is Mount Olivet….it is the place from which Jesus ascended into Heaven as His disciples looked on……..there, they say, Christ left his footprints in the rocks as he ascended into heaven…..that is the point……Jesus has gone into heaven, not to abandon us, but to be our hope: He has led the way; He has left us the trail of his footprints so that we can follow him to everlasting life.

• In today’s Holy Gospel we hear that the disciples "returned to Jerusalem with great joy."….for them the story was fulfilled but not ended with the Ascension of the Lord……they now went out and full of joy….full of hope….full of enthusiasm….introduced the Risen Lord to all men and women….they became joy-filled witnesses of the Lord and Savior of humanity……
• You and I have received that introduction and we…..many centuries later…..know the Risen Lord….not as an historical figure or a great teacher of the past…..but as the living and true God!!!!!...we are called to witness to Him in our world….in our days……Jesus Christ is true man and true God……to be his witnesses we must share not only his human nature, but also his divine nature….that was one of the main reasons he ascended into heaven….."He was taken up to heaven in their sight to claim for us a share in his divine life"…..

o Today, as the Church reminds us that heaven is our final destination but that our mission in this life is to witness by our lives that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He lives and reigns forever!!!! The tomb is empty because He is risen!!!!
o Let us take live our Faith with renewed enthusiasm….let us renew our commitment to stay close to Christ…..

10/05/2026

I am happy to say that the surgery and first stage of recovery have gone well. I will return to the parish today and continue my recovery. Thank you for your prayers.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER-A



Life can be a difficult journey……for some more so than for others…….
How many of Catholics….how many Christians…… have been comforted by these words of our Lord….how many have had their hearts made calm in the deepest trial….in the deepest sorrow by remembering these blessed words….how many hospital rooms, funeral parlors, and how many believers in moments of heaviest grief, loss, pain, sorrow have found our Lord’s words spoken in today’s Gospel to be of tremendous comfort, of victory, and of eternal life…..
In today’s Holy Gospel we have these comforting words of our Lord addressed to the disciples as his farewell address: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”
Our Lord is speaking to His disciples as He was about to leave His them in such a way that they could not follow Him……He was saying to them and to us that He would go away from us through the cross and through the resurrection from the dead and then……after forty days……He would ascend up into heaven……He would travel the path that the Father had laid out for Him in order to accomplish the entirety of our salvation……that He would obtain our salvation and then return to His heavenly Father in a glorious ascension.
And so, today, the Lord reminds us that everything that He ever did on earth was always for us whom the Father had entrusted to His care…….He tells us now that through that work we also have access into the grace of eternal life…….that we, too, have access to heaven…….and that He goes to heaven to prepare a place for us.
Today’s Gospel is a wonderful word of comfort and victory for us as children of God……..Jesus begins with the words, “Let not your heart be troubled.”…..the word “trouble” there means “thrown into fear, anxiety, or confusion.”…..so, He says do not have your heart thrown about with fears and confusions….at that point the disciples were filled with sorrow, despair…..they were feeling that they were being forsaken. And what about us? Can you count the troubles of one day in your heart—the worries, the fears, the burdens over sin, the anxiety, and the grief? And we have no defense of ourselves to keep all of that out of our hearts…..there are no bars……there are no bolts, and there are no locks….there is no security system….. to keep trouble out of your heart.








But now listen to Jesus. “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me.” The remedy for our troubled hearts is faith in the living God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and to listen, listen to Him. Then, to buttress and support the call that we are to put away a troubled heart, the Lord tells us that He goes away (in the ascension up into heaven), but that He goes away for a gracious purpose, a gracious purpose for us. “I am going away to prepare a place for you in My Father’s house of mansions.”
Let us think about that! What a wonderful place…..He speaks to us of Father’s house. “In my Father’s house are many mansions: …I go to prepare a place for you.” Very plainly, Jesus Christ is talking about heaven, and that in the ascension forty days after His resurrection from the dead He would go there in His glorified body…..He would go back to His home in heaven…….we know that the language is figurative…..it is borrowed from this present life: house and mansions…..but, you see, heaven is a real place….it is more real than anything we know here below….it is full of wonder and praise….but it is not a dream….it is not something made up in our imaginations….it is God’s dwelling…..it is His house…..it is the place where all of God’s glory and love and mercy is to be felt and experienced through Jesus Christ…..and that is what makes heaven--heaven.
Those are words that are bursting in tenderness. “And if I go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
Jesus, from the depths of His Loving Sacred Heart, is saying to us, “If I do not go, I cannot prepare this place for you…..it is very necessary that I go….but I will be back….. and where I am, there you shall be also to see My glory.”
That is the whole purpose of our creation…..of Jesus’ Nativity…….of His Passion and Death and Resurrection…..: that you and I might be with Him forever in glory……






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08/05/2026

Today we celebrate the feast of our Lady of Pompeii. My days of recuperation in Rome will come to an end tomorrow when I return to the parish. It will still be a time of convalescence for a few more weeks, but I will be able to get back partially into the swing of things. Thank you for your prayers.

08/05/2026

26/04/2026

Yesterday I was discharged from the hospital. I am still very tired… But beyond rest, I must also make sure to walk every day. I will stay here in Rome at least for another week or so of convalescence. Thank you for all of your good wishes and prayers.